Month: June 2010

I have spent the last two days at the Fancy Food show working with an olive oil producer from Apulia. I have had the occasion to try many delicacies from Italy but also from all over the world. I'm amazed at how many products there are and how they are available everywhere at this point.... Continue Reading →

Yesterday a Madeira tasting was held at the Astor Center in New York. I knew relatively little about Madeira before the tasting, I confess, other than that I really liked it. A dear friend, Rodolphe Boulanger of the Wine Messenger has been decanting Madeira's virtues for some months but I had not had the pleasure... Continue Reading →

It's time for a change, you've got to rearrange. Avvinare is going to be getting a makeover so that it is more attractive to the eye but it is mostly the content that is going to expand to cover Italian food and restaurants as well. I used to write an Italian food blog for a... Continue Reading →

Do you ever feel like that? So many tastings to go to, so many wines to try, so many varieties to learn. Sometimes the world of wine seems completely impossible to get your mind around. At least it does to me. Take today's opportunities - a wine tasting in the afternoon of wines from the... Continue Reading →

My wine of the week is a South African Shiraz 2007 from Muratie Estate. I was shocked to find that I kept going back for more of this wine during the England vs. USA world cup match. I was invited to a lovely party by Wines of South Africa to watch the game. While we... Continue Reading →

I have been writing a dictionary of sorts on Alta Cucina's website of Italian indigenous grape varieties. It is very slow going because there are more than 3000. In fact, no one know exactly how many there are. On the site, I try to write about the most important ones either because they are part... Continue Reading →

There are as many Italian wine blogs as there are American ones certainly, perhaps many more. Three that I like to read have joined forces, VINO IGP (i giovani promettenti) and are creating a column called Garantito IGP which is a designation for guaranteed quality. The three sites are in Italian, not English ahime' but... Continue Reading →

Once in while I use this blog for personal celebrations. Today is one of those days. Today, is my parent's 51st wedding anniversary. Truly remarkable in this day and age. Last year I made my parents a movie with my Mac, this year I'm thinking of writing them a song. My song isn't ready yet... Continue Reading →

At Vinitaly this past year, I finally had the occasion to wines by two of Campania's most famous women: Marisa Cuomo and Silvia Imparato from Montevetrano. Truth to be told, I had tasted a number of Marisa Cuomo wines at the Luca Maroni shows in New York but this was the very first time I... Continue Reading →